A celebration of Alex Ferguson & Arsene Wenger’s ‘snood’ wars

There was a time when you could wear cosy winter accessories without Sir Alex Ferguson calling you a “powder puff”. Rewind just over a decade and that wasn’t the case.

History shows that late 2010 had two main antagonists: a sad-looking Nick Clegg, who had betrayed the students, and a kind of tubular neck warmer that was worn, all too briefly, by a selection of Premier League footballers. It was a pandemic of sorts, and Carlos Tevez was its deadly pangolin.

In November 2010, ‘snoods’ began appearing, in huge numbers, on Premier League football pitches.

You could see lots of them at Manchester City, where Mario Balotelli, David Silva and captain Tevez all sported the trendy winter accessory.

In fact, so synonymous did snoods become with City, the club shop began selling a £10 ‘neck gaiter’ complete with team badge – and the product sold out within hours.

Snoods also made their way to north London, where Arsenal players like Bacary Sagna, Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh all found comfort in the girdled scarf substitute.

But not everyone was happy with the craze. Heading into December, snood numbers were on the rise, but so was a surprisingly intense backlash against the garment.

Paul Ince, then manager of Notts County, tore the snood to shreds, figuratively.

“Now you’ve got snoods, people wearing headphones when they are doing interviews… pink boots, green boots. You name it, they’ve got it. Tights? They’ll be wearing skirts next.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing players, even when it’s mild weather, wearing tights and these things around their necks. It’s not right.”

And Ince wasn’t alone in defending masculinity from its cotton foe.

England cricketer Graeme Swann said: “I wonder what Norman Hunter and Chopper Harris would’ve made